


tell me we'll never get used to this

by Winchesterek



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Croatoan/Endverse, Camp Chitaqua, Character Death (not Derek or Stiles), Croatoans, Crossover, Derek and Stiles are Mates, Established Relationship, F/M, M/M, Zombie Apocalypse, Zombies, epidemic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-08
Updated: 2014-04-13
Packaged: 2018-01-08 00:32:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1126243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Winchesterek/pseuds/Winchesterek
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stiles wakes up after cramming for an exam to find himself alone at Berkeley. He makes his way towards Beacon Hills and finds out that an epidemic has hit all across the country. A virus outbreak is responsible for people becoming rabid and other's disappearance.</p><p>(note: may end up re-writing this at some point to expand on the beginning)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> For [twbingo](http://twbingo.tumblr.com/). Card One - Zombie.

When the outbreak hit, Stiles was asleep. It happened around finals and he’d been exhausted from pulling an all nighter to study for his advanced Organic Chemistry class. When he woke up sometime after noon, everything was chaos. He’d planned on getting an early start to class, grabbing some coffee and his notes and heading over to Davis Hall so he could get a couple of more hours of studying in before his final. Instead he’d found the campus completely trashed and it seemed to have become a disaster zone in the twelve hours he’d been passed out. Whatever had happened, he’d slept through all of it.

He’d tried to call Scott, his father and even Derek but no one answered and then the cell towers went down so he’d lost reception. Stiles packed a bag, complete with rations and the emergency kit that he kept under his bed (because was always paranoid about everything) and some clothes (mostly socks and underwear, one pair of jeans and several t-shirts), rolled and compacted into his backpack the way that his father had showed him for their camping trips. It conserved space and allowed Stiles to pack other things that he might need to get back home. It was a two hour drive, but his Jeep was back in Beacon Hills since he didn't need it while he was at University, which meant that Stiles was going to have to hoof it. The walk took Stiles four days. He’d stayed off the main roads because the clutter of abandoned cars and to avoid the possibility of running into any civilians. He didn't want to take the risk of something happening before he made it back home. At night he scavenged when he needed to, but never stayed long out in the open, taking the cover of the trees and any brush he could utilize to keep his presence hidden. 

When he made it back to Beacon Hills it seemed just as deserted as everywhere between here and Berkeley. He checked his house first, stocking up on emergency rations that his dad kept in the storage closet and showered before heading to the Police Station. The first thing that Stiles had noticed was that the power was out, just like it had been at his house. Then there was the blood and it was everywhere. Everything was eerily quiet. There were no bodies and the station was a mess. He called out for his Dad and checked his office, not finding him and then the dread finally started to sink in. The most that Stiles had been able to put together on his way back to Beacon Hills was that some kind of mass epidemic had occurred and people had evacuated, but he had no idea where anyone had gone. He checked his Dad’s desk to see if he could find any reports, finding slips of paper with words like ‘infected’ and ‘dying’. Terror started to fill Stiles and he covered his mouth with his plaid shirt, wondering if he was being exposed to whatever it was right now because of all the blood. Whoever had been left must’ve disposed of the bodies before they evacuated. 

He left the station and systematically swept the town, starting with the closest house to the station. Lydia’s house was empty and was practically immaculate, except for the stray clothes that indicated they’d left in a hurry. Jackson and Boyd’s houses were a mess and there was blood in each of them. Erica’s house was a mess, but there didn't seem to be any sort of struggle like there had been in the previous two and Scott’s house was lived in, but empty. Stiles planted himself on the couch, trying to figure out what to do before he started to search the house. The only clue that he found was a slip of paper that read ‘Eagle One’ stuck to the refrigerator with a magnet. That could only mean one thing, so he grabbed his backpack and left quickly. It was already dark out and he had one more stop to make before he could leave town. Stiles ducked between houses, trying to keep off the main roads as he walked to Allison’s house to see if the hunters were held up in their fortress, but the house was just as empty as all the others he’d searched. More so, the weapons were gone. At least, most of them were. Stiles had no idea how the hell to shoot a bow so he didn't even touch any of the ones that were left in the garage, especially since there weren't any arrows in sight anyway. Stiles sighed, then paused on his way towards the door that led into the house. He barely noticed the small pile on the work table with another slip of paper that read ‘Eagle One’ next to it.

Stiles picked up the slip of paper and turned it over, looking for any more clues, but found none and tossed his backpack at his feet. The pile consisted of a shoulder holster with two guns snapped into it and several clips of ammo and knives. He had no idea how the hell to use any of it properly, but he pulled on the holster over his hoodie and put a couple of clips into his pocket before shoving everything else into his backpack. Stiles grabbed the jacket that was set beside the pile and pulled it on. It was a little big for him, but it hid the weapons and it would keep him warm. He grabbed his backpack and shouldered it before leaving quietly, heading to the overlook that him and Scott called ‘their spot’. It was their bro-spot and it was the only place that he knew where to look next. It took him a couple of hours to make it through the darkness of the forest, but when he got there no one was there. Stiles searched the area before throwing himself onto a boulder and pulled out his phone. No reception. Just great. The towers must still be down.

He dug into his backpack for a power bar and ate it quietly, chewing slowly so his brain could process that he was eating. Several minutes and half a bar later, he noticed something white on the rock he was sitting on. Stiles got up and brushed his ass off, then noticed white lettering on the rock. With the light of his phone he could barely see that the letters were H-A-L-E. Hale. And then the word ‘Preserve’. Why the hell hadn't he thought to check there? Stiles grabbed his backpack, shoved the rest of his powerbar into it and took off running into the forest. 

He was sure that he’d gotten lost, even with his compass on his phone, but two hours later he thought he was close. Stiles couldn't see in the dark, even with his phone and times like these he wished that he’d accepted the damn bite from Peter so he could have supernatural senses. Then he would’ve been able to sniff everyone out and see in the dark.

“Stiles?”

Stiles tripped and tumbled backwards, feeling like he jumped right out of his skin at the sudden voice that startled him. He squinted and stared into the darkness, trying to see who it was and - “Isaac? Oh my god. I’m so happy to see you! Hell, anyone!” He got up and rushed Isaac to try and give him a hug, but received a low growl in response. 

“Have you been bitten?” Isaac asked in a cautious tone, keeping his distance from Stiles.

“What? No. Well, I’m pretty sure a horde of mosquitoes got me a couple of hours ago but - why are you asking me if I was bit?” It didn't make any sense and he faintly wondered if that was how the infection was spreading. At least it wasn't airborne, yet. 

“Come on. It’s cold. We should get inside.” 

Stiles watched Isaac for several seconds, wanting to shoot him a barrage of questions, but followed quietly instead. Isaac was nearly silent walking next to his loud, clumsy feet as they headed up to the house. “So what’s going on? Everyone’s gone. Like, totally disappeared. And it’s not just here -”

“Stiles!”

The shrieks made him jump, but he couldn't react fast enough before three pairs of arms were enveloping him and he was taken to the floor. He grunted, blinking several times before he recognized Chanel No. 5 and strawberry-blond hair. “Lydia!” Stiles clung back, laying there awkwardly under the three bodies on top of him. He couldn't believe it. “Oh my god. I went by all of you guy’s houses and - you’re all okay.” Lydia, Allison and Erica.

“Of course we’re okay. We’ve been hiding out in the middle of the woods away from civilization,” Erica grumbled, planting a big red kiss on Stiles’ cheek before nuzzling against him to get the scent of the road off of him.

“Anyone going to tell me what the hell is going on?” he asked, sitting up when the girls moved off of him.

“Don't say it,” Lydia glared at Allison.

“What? Why not? It’s not like we have any other explanation for what’s going on,” Allison pointed out.

“Still confused here,” Stiles said, waving his hand at all of them before shrugging off his backpack.

“Best that we can tell is that there’s some sort of virus that’s infecting people,” Isaac put in. “There’s not really any real way to explain it since we don't know what’s going on, but it’s like they’re crazed.”

“Zombies,” Allison said quickly before Lydia could cut in.

Lydia glared at Allison again and sighed, shaking her head. “They’re not zombies. Well, not in the cinematic sense of rotting corpses with flesh falling off of them. At least not yet. A few of days ago we had an attack while we were out gathering supplies and I got some blood samples. From what I can tell there’s some sort of rabies like mutation or something similar that’s infecting people. Everything I had was trashed at the school last night so I can't continue my research, but so far that’s all we’ve got.”

“Zombies.” Stiles couldn't believe it. “You’re telling me that the big epidemic that’s taken the west coast is zombies?”

“Or something like that,” Isaac confirmed. 

“Wait… how long has this been going on here?” It had taken Stiles four days to get back home on foot, but they were talking as if it had been going on longer than that.

Allison shrugged. “Couple of weeks. Longer, maybe. We think it hit somewhere in the midwest and spread like wildfire. Dad got a hold of some friends up in Detroit and they said it’s pretty bad all over the country. Whole cities just disappeared and others are infested with hordes of these… infected people.”

So that explained why there hadn't been many people on his way home or in town. “So what’re we doing about it?” They had to do something about it. Find a cure or something. 

“Nothing… we’re keeping our heads down until we know its safe enough to get out of town.” Isaac pulled up a chair to sit near them. “Once we have enough supplies, Chris said we’re heading out to Detroit where they’ve set up a settlement. His friends up there know how to tell who’s infected with this virus. There are signs before they turn, but we just don't know what they are.”

“So how are people being infected?”

“Blood transmission,” Lydia said. “Cuts, ingestion, anything that causes infected blood to get into your system. At least that’s the only reasonable explanation that I’ve come up with.”

“Have any of you been infected?” Stiles asked carefully, looking at the four of them. Erica and Lydia turn away and Stiles notices now that it looks like Lydia has been crying for days and Erica looks a hot mess.

“Boyd and Jackson didn't make it,” Allison said quietly, reaching out a hand for Lydia to give her shoulder a squeeze. 

Stiles watched Erica get up and walk off, followed quietly by Isaac and he sighed, running a hand over his face. “My dad?”

“He’s out with my dad, Scott, Derek and Melissa. They’re on a supply run,” Allison informed, rubbing Lydia’s back. They watched Lydia get up and walk off, fighting off the tears that wanted to overcome her. “It’s been hard for her. For all of us. We lost Peter at the Station when Derek and him went to get your Dad...”

Stiles felt awful because he was relieved that his dad, Scott and Derek were okay. “Are you okay?”

Allison shrugged. “As good as I can be. It’s all kind of a lot to take in, but we’ve gotta deal, right?”

Stiles nodded. “Yeah.” And at least he wasn't alone anymore.

“You want some water? We brought some in from the well system,” Allison asked.

“Yeah, sure. I’m pretty thirsty.”

“I’ll go get you some.”

Stiles watched her go, wondering how the hell he’d slept through a zombie-virus epidemic and if Berkeley was one of those cities that disappeared, he wondered how he even escaped any of it. Most of all, he wondered when Derek was going to be back because he needed the comfort of his mate. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For [twbingo](http://twbingo.tumblr.com/). Card One - Quarantine.

Stiles was going crazy. Like, literally. He thought he might just be able to start climbing the walls soon from how crazy he was going. He couldn't take it anymore. “Oh my god, can someone let me out?” he called through the door and sighed, looking around the small room that he’d been locked in for the last week. He knew that his friends were trying to do what was best for everyone and that was the only reason that Stiles had agreed to it. There was no telling if Stiles had been exposed to the virus and they didn't know how long it took for someone to show signs or turn from it, so they were just being cautious. His week was up so that meant that they’d be letting him out soon, but he’d been told that everyone had to go through quarantine since werewolves couldn't smell the initial infection.

“Please?” he called out again, banging his head against the door. “Derek? I know you’re out there.” He’d been out there all day every day and brought him his food and blankets and other things that he’d need and made sure that he was never alone when they had to let him out to use the restroom. Stiles had protested when Derek said he would keep watch, not wanting Derek to be at risk if he turned, but his mate had refused to let Stiles stay alone. “Derek… hello? I know that I can't smell you or hear you, but I know you’re out there. Open the damn door. I’m going crazy in here and I swear it’s been a week.” Stiles had been keeping track with notches on the wall, counting the days until his freedom.

The door opened and Stiles stepped back, smiling when he saw Derek slide through the small opening and close the door again behind. He didn't hesitate, moving in close and wrapping himself around his mate, burying himself into Derek’s neck. “Mmm, I missed you.”

Derek smiled and wrapped his arms around Stiles, dropping a kiss on his head. “I just went out for a perimeter run. I wasn't gone too long,” he assured him.

“Long enough. Everything okay out there?”

“There haven't been any perimeter breaches,” Derek shrugged. “Then again, we haven't seen any of the infected since the initial outbreak. We’re hoping that’s a good thing. Isaac and Erica are doing perimeter runs every hour and Chris and your Dad went out to gather more supplies for the trip.”

“When are we supposed to leave?” Stiles asked, nuzzling into Derek’s neck to scent him again, trying to leave his own scent on his mate.

“Another week or so. Depends on how long it takes us to get enough supplies and fuel for the trip. Your Dad found a small trailer to hook up to Chris’ SUV. We’ve packed the Jeep already.” It had fuel strapped to the top and supplies for both Derek and Stiles in the back.

“Okay… so what else do we need to do? I mean, I need to get out of here. I’m starting to get cabin fever. How can you tell if I’m not infected?” Stiles didn't feel any different, but none of them had been really sure on the details of the timeline for the infection to claim its victims. 

“Lydia wants to do some bloodwork on you to see if there are any traces of the virus in your blood, which means we have to make a trip up to the school to see if we can get into the Biology labs. It was pretty trashed the last time we were there. Someone or something trashed Lydia’s research the day before you showed up, remember?”

“Yeah,” Stiles sighed and nodded. “Okay. Can we go now?” he really, really needed to get out of this damn room.

“Get your things and I’ll tell Lydia.” Derek pressed a quick kiss to Stiles’ lips when he leaned up for it and left his mate there to get ready for their outing.

*

“OW!” Stiles complained, jerking his hand away, but Lydia held his wrist firmly in her grasp. 

“Hold still you big baby,” she said and pulled his finger over the glass plate she had ready.

“So what are you looking for?” He watched as she squeezed his finger and droplets of blood pooled on the specimen plate.

“Any abnormalities,” she said casually, releasing him and placed another slide on top of his blood, then popped it under the microscope. “The samples that we collected from the infected a couple of weeks ago were mutated.” Lydia looked into the scope and turned the knob to focus on Stiles’ blood cells.

Stiles wanted to comment that sometimes he thought he was just a giant mutation, but he kept that to himself, glancing over at Allison who was standing by the windows, watching the front of the building. “Can you see Derek out there?” he asked her.

Allison shook her head without looking over at Stiles. “He already went around back. Probably checking the rest of the buildings to make sure that they’re clear. Someone destroyed Lydia’s work… they could still be around,” she sighed and glanced over at the two of them. “Is he clean?” she asked Lydia.

Lydia was quiet and Stiles wondered if that meant he was going to get bad news. Oh, god. He hoped that he wasn't infected. He didn't want to become a zombie. That wasn't how this was supposed to end. He was supposed to be normal (or as normal as a werewolf’s mate was supposed to be). That was the reason that he’d gone away to college in the first place, because Derek wanted him to have the full experience.

“He’s clean,” Lydia replied after a couple of minutes. “Your blood is normal.”

“Oh, thank god,” Stiles sighed out in relief. “Now it just needs to stay normal. I’m not becoming a zombie. Ever. If I get infected, everyone has permission to chop off my head.”

“Sweetie,” Lydia started and smiled at him. “I’d chop off your head even without your permission if you became infected,” she assured him, giving him a pat on the cheek and popped the specimen slide out to wipe the blood off of it.

He just gave her a look, knowing he should be thankful that she was such a good friend to put him out of his zombie-misery, but he just rolled his eyes and hopped off the stool he was sitting on, sucking on his finger to remove the blood that was swelling there. “Did your dad say we had to get anything while we’re out?” he asked Allison.

“Your dad, mine and Melissa are sweeping the businesses around town for medical supplies and other non-perishables,” Allison said, turning to look at them. “He said that we should -”

Stiles stopped when Allison raised her crossbow at a sound in the hallway, moving to place himself in front of Lydia right before a figure entered the doorway. Stiles jumped, struggling to get his gun out of his holster, dropped it and picked it back up before he pointed it at the intruder. “What the hell! Who are you?” He wondered if this was the person that had destroyed Lydia’s research and if they were infected.

The guy didn't have time to respond before Allison shrieked and went darting past Stiles, throwing herself at the newcomer. “Oh my god! I didn't know you were in town. You’re safe,” Allison said relieved. 

“Yeah, I’m good,” the guy smiled and looked at Stiles and Lydia. “I’m Jeremy. Sorry to startled you guys. I ran into Chris on my way through town and he said that you all were here. Thought I’d stop in and see if you needed any help.”

“Jeremy comes from a hunting family out in Virginia,” Allison told Stiles and Lydia. “You were up at UCSF, right?”

“Yeah, when all hell broke loose I barely got outta there. Took me a while to get here staying low-key. I figured I’d head up to Detroit with you guys and then try my luck going back out to Virginia to see if my family is still there.”

“By yourself. You’re going to go all the way to Virginia by yourself?” Stiles asked, finally speaking up.

Jeremy shrugged. “Yeah, why not? Wouldn't you if your family was out there?”

Jeremy had a point. Stiles would try to go anywhere that he knew Derek and his Dad were, which was why he’d walked all the way back to Beacon Hills. He couldn't be left wondering what had happened to anyone. They were the only family that he had.

Stiles looked at Lydia when she snapped at Jeremy and held her hand out. “Hand,” she said casually. “I need to check your blood.”

“Yeah, sure,” Jeremy said and took out a knife, poking his finger and walking over to the red-head. He let her take his finger and smear some blood onto a slide. “You’re looking for sulfur deposits?” he asked her.

Lydia frowned and glanced at him after popping the slide into the microscope. “Abnormalities.”

“Oh, uh, I’m Stiles and this is Lydia,” he said and motioned between the two of them. “She’s a genius.” 

Jeremy just smiled and nodded, looking back at Lydia. “Sulfur deposits. For the infection,” he told her. “It manifests about four to five hours after exposure. That’s how you can tell if someone is infected.”

“Huh. Such a quick turnaround?” Lydia checked the slide for a couple of minutes without saying anything else. “He’s clean. Maybe we should check again in four hours,” she added, narrowing her eyes at him.

“Yeah, if you need to. I don't mind. I think I’m good though. I haven't been exposed to any infected blood. And four hours is the average rate of infection. At least that's what I've put together while watching people turn after exposure.”

“Never hurts to be safe,” Allison commented and glanced at the door when Derek came into the room.

“I heard shrieking,” Derek said, breathing heavily. Wherever he’d run from must’ve been far on his perimeter check to make him winded like that. 

“Oh, uh. Well. This is Jeremy,” Stiles said and pointed at him. “Jeremy, this is Derek. Allison kinda screeched when he came in. They know each other,” he informed his mate.

“Hunter,” Lydia said with a glance at Derek and took the slide out of the microscope. “So far his blood is clean. He’ll have to go through quarantine, just like everyone else. Even if it's only for four hours.”

“Oh, good.” His breathing was evening out and he wrapped his arms around Stiles when his mate buried himself against his chest. “How’d your test go?”

“I’m clean. No infection,” he replied, relieved. “Allison said Chris wanted us to sweep the neighborhoods for supplies. I’m on your team.” The hunters could be on their own team and if Lydia wanted to come with them, she could, but Stiles refused to be separated from Derek. “Let’s go.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For [twbingo](http://twbingo.tumblr.com/). Card One - Roadtrip.

Stiles sat quietly in the passenger side of the Jeep, feet propped up on the dash, staring blankly down at the journal on his lap. He couldn't remember how many months it had been since he’d woken up at Berkeley alone. Stiles stopped counting once they’d gotten on the road, but he tried to keep some kind of record of the things that had happened since then in his journal. He stared at the half-written page and sighed, putting pen to paper and focused on writing for several minutes before pausing again. “I’m tired of losing people,” he said softly, the words on the page becoming blurry as the tears swelled in his eyes. He reached a hand up to push them away, resting his head back against the headrest before turning to look at Derek.

“I know,” Derek said quietly, reaching out to take Stiles’ hand into his, trying to reassure his mate the best he could. He couldn't say that it ever got easier, but Derek was so used to losing the people that he cared about. Ever since the fire.

“I just - I can't believe that they’re gone…” Stiles squeezed Derek’s hand, closing his eyes and focusing on Derek’s scent as he sat there, trying not to think about the friends that they’d lost. They had lost Lydia in Denver, Isaac and Jeremy in Kansas City and Erica in Peoria. Things had gotten relatively worse over the last several months and their friends deaths had wore on all of them. What was worse is that they had lost part of their pack. They weren't only friends to Stiles and Derek and it felt like some of their limbs had been severed.

“We’re almost to Detroit. We’ve got about 250 miles left,” Derek told him carefully. Hopefully when they got there they would have some semblance of safety and they would be able to get some much needed rest.

250 miles of torture. Stiles sighed and looked out the window. “What then? Nothing is ever going to be normal again. It’s not like we’re ever going to be able to get away from all of this. We’re never going to be able to escape the infected and some day -”

“Don't,” Derek cut in. “You can't think like that. It’s not any of our faults that we’ve lost people… there was nothing that we could do, but you can't give up, Stiles. I’m not going to let you.” There was no Derek without Stiles and Derek refused to let his mate become a shell of himself despite how hard the world around them was trying to strip them of everything good that they had. They still had each other and that was enough for Derek to keep fighting. 

“One day -” Stiles started again, looking back to his mate. “Someday we’re going to - we won't be able to escape.” They’d lost each of their friends when hordes of the infected had rushed them when they had been passing through cities and towns, on supply runs and Erica and been lost when they had been sleeping. The worse part about losing Erica was that Derek had to put her down himself. The others had been lost to the hordes that had attacked them and none of them could’ve done anything to save any of them.

“You’ll be okay,” Derek told him carefully. If anything, Derek would make sure that Stiles made it out, even if he had to sacrifice himself to get his mate to safety.

“Derek - don't. You know that I’m not leaving without you. If you die, I’m going with you.” It was something that they had talked about more than once and Derek always told him that there was no way that he was going to let Stiles die, but Stiles refused to live on without his mate. He wouldn't be able to. Stiles knew that he wouldn't be able to survive without being able to feel their bond. If Derek died, they would be gone and Stiles refused to live through that. It would drive him insane, literally. 

Derek couldn't deny Stiles again. He’d already denied him so many times and he knew how Stiles felt. “Okay. We’ll go together,” he promised him. Derek would make sure that they survived as long as possible, but when the time came and there was no other way around their deaths, Derek would make sure that they died together.

Stiles raised Derek’s hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to it, pulling it into his lap and closing his eyes. He was exhausted and it would take them at least three more hours before they were even close to Detroit. When he woke up they were parked near the water and Stiles sat up quickly, looking for Derek. “Derek?”

“Out here,” Derek called, standing near the lake.

Stiles clambered out of the Jeep, straightened himself and stretched before moving over to stand next to Derek. “Hey,” he smiled and tucked himself into his mate’s warmth.

“Hey,” Derek said softly, nosing at Stiles until he was greeted with a kiss.

“Where’s everyone?”

“They went ahead,” Derek said with a shrug. “Thought that we could use some alone time. There aren't a lot of people out there and I can't smell any of the infected around. We’ll meet up with them sometime tomorrow.”

“The water is nice.” Stiles rested his cheek on Derek’s shoulder, looking out over the water. The moon was high in the sky, the crescent offering limited light casting over the small waves crashing near their feet. “You wanna go for a swim?”

“Are you sure you’re not going to freeze to death?” Derek asked, laughing and giving Stiles a squeeze. The laugh sounded strange to him, especially because of the last several months, but he tried not to feel guilty for his brief happiness.

“That’s why I have you,” Stiles teased, poking Derek’s side and stole a kiss before he pulled away and started to strip. “You’re gonna keep me warm. Just one of the many perks of having a werewolf as a mate.” His shirt and jeans were tossed onto the Jeep, then his socks and underwear. He shivered as the wind picked up, practically throwing himself at Derek and started helping him strip down. “Come on. Get naked.”

Derek chuckled and let Stiles strip him, wrapping his arms around Stiles and kissing him. He held Stiles close once he was naked. “I bet the water is freezing,” he said, rubbing his hands up and down Stiles’ back.

“Don't be such a wuss.”

One slender finger poked Derek’s chest and he raised his brows at Stiles, giving him an all to familiar look. “Oh, really? Me? A wuss? I don't think so.” He picked Stiles up, throwing his mate over his shoulder and carried him towards the water. Stiles was kicking and flailing in protest, laughing and coping a feel to try and get Derek to stop and put him down. Derek didn't put Stiles down until they were in the water, submerged to their chests.

“Yo - You’re evil!” Stiles shivered, clinging to Derek to soak up his warmth, but he was laughing all the same.

“That’s why you love me,” Derek commented, turning his face into Stiles’ neck and kissing over his mark there. “Plus you need a shower. You’re stinky,” he joked.

“You ass.” Stiles smacked him on the shoulder, splashing water around them and chuckling, wrapping his legs around his mate so Derek had to do all the work to keep them afloat.

“No, that’s what you smell like,” Derek teased and pulled away enough to give Stiles a tender kiss. “But it’s okay, I love stinky you too.”

“I think the end of the world has gotten to you… when did you become funny?”

“I’ve always been funny. I just never talk fast enough to get anything out before you’re funny before me,” Derek chuckled, giving Stiles another kiss, holding him close.

“Mmmmm, well… I like it when you’re mouth is busy doing other things,” Stiles teased, nipping at Derek’s lips before giving him a wet kiss. 

“Oh, really?” Derek asked, grinning and raising his eyebrows again.

“I think we have some lube in my bag.” They hadn't had sex in a while, but Stiles’ spirits hadn't been well enough for sex with everything that had been happening. “If you’re up for it.”

“I think I can manage that.” Derek kissed Stiles, carefully making his way back to the shore with Stiles wrapped around him. He couldn't bring back the people they’d lost, but he could make his mate feel good and Derek had every intention of keeping Stiles happy and sated as long as he could.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For [twbingo](http://twbingo.tumblr.com/). Card One - Crossover.

Stiles got out of the Jeep and stretched with a yawn. “How long was I out?” he asked Derek, rounding the front to meet him for a kiss.

“Couple of hours. You needed the rest.” Stiles smiled when Derek wrapped an arm around him and he leaned into his mate, looking around. They had parked off the main road at a spot that Derek had circled on their map. “We’re supposed to meet everyone here,” Derek told him.

“Did they say what time?” Stiles asked, as if he still had a working watch. His still kept his grandfathers pocket watch tucked away in his bag, but it had stopped working before the outbreak hit.

“Around noon,” Derek said with a shrug, glancing up at the sun. “Sun seems like it’s in the right spot, so they should be showing up soon. We’ll give them a couple of hours and if they don’t show up then we’ll go ahead without them.” It was something that they had all agreed on. There was a two-hour window and if anyone missed it, they got left behind. If there was ever a situation where none of them might make it out, no one was expected to stay or to go looking for one another. The world was too dangerous now and that put the pack at too much risk.

Stiles rested his head against Derek’s shoulder, closing his eyes and relaxing since Derek could smell the infected and hear anyone that might want to hurt them while he closed his eyes. At least it was daylight and he needed the rest in case they couldn’t sleep tonight. Derek could get some Zzs then and Stiles would stay up to watch over his mate. He looked up when he felt Derek shift, turning his gaze in the direction Derek was looking and he smiled as he saw the vehicles driving up. “Finally,” he sighed in relief.

“Looks like everyone is okay,” Derek said as the vehicles parked and Stiles moved from his arms.

“Dad!” Stiles grinned and went to hug his dad tight, happy that he was all right, even if it had only been 24 hours since he’d seen him.

“Hey kiddo, how you holdin’ up?”

“Good. Got some rest,” he nodded and smiled, glancing over at Derek. They’d gotten some much needed connection time as well and Stiles was happy and sated, feeling their renewed bond as Derek smiled at him. “Seems like you guys had a good night,” Stiles said and hugged everyone as they piled out of the cars.

“Coulda slept better,” Allison said and stretched her neck. “Scott hogs the back seat so I got a knot in my neck.” She elbowed Scott when he had looked at her sheepishly. Scott was bright eyed and bushy tailed.

“Alright, everyone gather around,” Chris said as he got out, grabbing his map and laying it out on the hood of his truck. “Everyone have their maps? We need to mark off search routes and travel routes.”

Stiles pulled out his and Derek’s map as everyone did the same and laid it out on the Jeep. He started marking down the routes that Chris told everyone about and marked off parts of Detroit that they were supposed to do a supply run for, while everyone else marked their own routes. Stiles gridded out the map so he could put Xs through their completed search sections once they got started.

“Any questions?” Chris asked as he folded up his map and put it inside his jacket. When no one said anything he continued. “Alright, teams are as follows – Derek, Stiles and Scott, Melissa and Jeff and Allison and I. If you’re not back before sunset, we’ll move on without you. If something happens and you can’t reach us, everyone knows where the Camp is. I suggest you head there instead of coming back here if you can’t make it. That’s our final destination,” he reminded the group.

“Alright, lets move out,” Melissa said as she folded up her map. “Be careful honey. I’ll see you in a couple of hours,” she told Scott and gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

“I will,” Scott promised her. “Don’t let her get into any trouble,” he smiled, teasing Stiles’ dad.

“We’ll be fine kiddo. All of you be careful.” Jeff wrapped his arm around Melissa and they headed off to their vehicle, leaving Stiles, Scott and Derek alone.

“Alright,” Stiles said and sighed, running a hand over his face before he yawned again. “So we need a few things and since I’ve got two Alpha’s with me I think we should pack as much canned goods as we can into the Jeep. Everything that’s non-perishable we should snag. Oh and toilet paper. Hygiene stuff.” And Stiles hoped they’d find some more lube so he could stock up on that just in case it was a long time before they found any again. There was no way he was going to be able to have sex without some sort of lubrication. He wasn’t a werewolf. He didn’t have super healing powers to heal himself with if Derek fucked him dry. “Sound good?” he asked, raising his brows as he looked at Derek first and then Scott.

“Sounds good bro. I’ll go grab the rucksacks so we can put all the canned goods in them.” Scott hurried off to an SUV that Allison and Chris were getting into, grabbed the bags and gave his girlfriend a kiss goodbye. Stiles watched Scott lingering near the SUV, talking to Allison.

“You okay?” Derek asked softly, raising a hand to run down along Stiles’ back, stopping to rest on his hip.

“Yeah. Just worried,” Stiles replied and looked to his mate. “Every time we do this in a big city we end up losing someone. I really hope we all make it out this time. I can’t lose anyone else.”

“We’ll be okay.” And Stiles knew that Derek would make sure that they made it out, whatever it took. “We’ll meet up with your dad before sunset and share our spoils,” Derek teased.

Stiles chuckled at that and smiled a little, leaning up to press a kiss on Derek’s lips. “Don’t do anything stupid, okay? Just stay with me. You can’t go on some suicide mission to save me or anyone else. We get out together or we don’t get out at all, remember?”

“Yeah, okay,” Derek agreed. Stiles knew that it always made Derek uncomfortable whenever they talked about the inevitable, but Stiles reminded Derek the night before that there was no way that he could live without his mate and Stiles had no intention of doing any such thing.

“Okay, I got the bags,” Scott said, interrupting Stiles’ thoughts. “I’m all ready to go.” Stiles watched Scott shoulder his backpack and round the Jeep to put the rucksacks into the back.

“Let’s get this done. I wanna get back as soon as we can. Hopefully we can get to that camp by tonight and get a good nights rest.” Stiles smiled as Derek gave him a squeeze and Stiles went around to the passenger side to get into his Jeep while Derek slid behind the steering wheel and Scott climbed into the back.

Stiles had the map propped up on his knees, his feet on the dash as he directed Derek where to drive. Scott was chattering in the back about nothing and Stiles grunted every now and then in response to something that his best friend said. Once Derek pulled over, Stiles looked up from where he was writing in his journal and out the window. “I always forget how ruined the cities look,” Stiles said as he closed his journal and put it into the glove compartment. They were pulled over on the side of the rode a good distance from Detroit even though Stiles could see the city easily enough from where they were parked.

“Better hike into the city. Easier to stay silent and unseen that way,” Derek said as he got out of the Jeep and went to the back to pull out his pack, pulling it on and handed Stiles his when he came around. “Everyone have enough water?”

“Yeah, I filled up last night. It’s still mostly full,” Stiles answered. “You?” Derek nodded and Scott grabbed the rucksacks from the back, handing one to Derek. “Alright, lets get in there and get what we need.” Stiles slung his backpack on, carrying a duffle for supplies as they started off towards the city. The walk took the better part of an hour since they’d parked far enough away so they could hide the Jeep in some brush where they’d left it.

Stiles looked at Derek when he saw him sniff the air. “Anything?” he asked. Derek shook his head, indicating that he couldn’t smell any of the infected around.

“No humans, either. I think right now we’re safe. We’ll go through the first few buildings on the grid and see how much we have before we move onto the next section.” Derek glanced back at Scott, who nodded and moved out in front of them to lead the way, Stiles between them. There wasn’t much in the first couple of buildings and it looked like they had been raided long ago and stripped clean. Most of the buildings on the outer city limits rarely had supplies since they were the easiest to loot from. Stiles wasn’t surprised when the first section of their search grid yielded no spoils. The second and third were much the same. They’d picked up a couple of cans of food, a can opener (which Stiles was ecstatic about) and random slips of paper that Stiles insisted they could use as toilet paper or tinder if they needed to.

It wasn’t until they were into the fourth section of their grid that they hit the jackpot. Stiles packed Derek’s rucksack with the canned goods that they’d found in several buildings while Scott did the same. He let Derek take the bag and heft it over his shoulder when there was no more left to pack and left the building with the two of them. “Hey, look. You think there’s anything left there?” Stiles asked, pointing to what looked like a drug store. They could find hygiene stuff there and if there was any medicine left they could take that too.

They went to the store and Derek sniffed the place out. Once he was satisfied they headed in and walked through the cluttered store. The windows had been broken, probably from storms or looters and a lot of stuff seemed to be ruined, but Stiles shrieked when he found a bottle of lube. “Sorry,” he blushed when Scott skid across the floor and into his isle to check on him. “I, uh… just got excited.”

Scott gave him a once over and nodded, sighing in relief. “Keep it down. We don’t know if there’s anyone around,” he reminded his best friend. Stiles nodded and watched Scott walk off to start packing things into his bag. Stiles grabbed the couple of bottles of lube that were on the shelf and shoved them into his backpack. He also grabbed wipes and something that smelled like shampoo but he couldn’t really tell since the label was faded. He packed whatever looked like soap or at least things that seemed like they would lather up so he could wash himself. They could all use a good shower. Stiles shoved any other hygiene products he could find into his backpack and for the hell of it he grabbed several packs of condoms too. He could give them to Scott or barter them for goods since him and Derek never bothered with them. Once he was done in that isle he righted his backpack onto his back and went in search for Scott and Derek.

“The pharmacy is picked over, but they had a few things. Some antibiotics,” Derek said as Stiles walked over to him. He grabbed a bottle and tossed it at Stiles before he started sorting through the medicine again, packing the things that he thought they might need.

“Oh thank fuck,” Stiles said as he looked down at the bottle in his hand. It was ADHD medicine. Stiles never thought he’d see a bottle ever again. “I should probably save it… you know, for when things get bad.” Right now he felt okay, but there were some days that were horrible. He knew it wouldn’t do much without a steady buildup in his system to work effectively, but at least he’d have some sort of relief on the bad days. “Anything else we can use to trade?”

“Well, there’s a lot of stuff we don’t need, but we should probably take it anyway. Could probably get something good if we trade some uppers,” Derek said as he passed Stiles a bottle to look at. “But I’m putting all the painkillers and antibiotics into our bag.”

“Yeah, okay. I think we have as much as we can carry. We should probably be heading back soon,” Stiles said as he handed the bottle back to Derek to pack away. There was a shriek and a loud crash in the store that had Stiles jumping and backing into Derek when he turned to see what it was.

“Sorry… there was a rat,” Scott said where he was laying on top of a turned over shelf. “It jumped on me from one of the shelves,” he tried to explain.

Stiles sighed and held his chest. “Scott!” he growled in a low whisper. “God, I thought – ” Something bad. Stiles wasn’t sure what his thoughts were, he just knew that he’d thought something bad had happened. The last thing he expected was Scott to be shrieking at a rat. Then again, Stiles had practically screamed in excitement over lube.

“Sorry,” Scott said again and dusted himself off. “Don’t tell Allison.” That made Stiles laugh softly. He knew he should promise not to tell Allison, but the look on her face would be priceless when she found out. “I packed a bunch of first aid supplies,” Scott added. “I think I’ve got as much as I can put into my bag.”

“Yeah, us too,” Stiles nodded as he glanced back at Derek who was ready to go. “Lets go.” Stiles followed Scott out of the store and looked at their map. “Okay, so we have a couple of more grids to go through.” Stiles glanced up at the sky to see where the sun was. “I’m thinking we can hike back and drop the stuff off at the Jeep and make our way back. We have enough time to go through our last few grids before sunset.”

“Well, if you want we can try to condense into one bag and I can take everything back to the Jeep,” Scott offered. “Then you guys can load up and I can meet up with you. Shouldn’t be that hard to track you on my way back.”

“You sure?” Stiles asked, looking down at the grid.

“Yeah, man. No big. I can carry everything back. Remember I’m a big bad Alpha.”

Stiles shook his head and smiled as he heard Derek snort at Scott’s comment behind him. “Yeah, okay.” They set the bags down and started going through the stuff to pack it all carefully into Scott’s rucksack. They emptied Stiles’ entire duffle and half of Derek’s rucksack into Scott’s.

“Okay, see you guys in a bit. I’ll make it as quick as I can,” Scott said, giving Stiles’ shoulder a squeeze.

“Be careful!” Stiles called after his best friend and sighed, looking back at Derek. “We probably shouldn’t let him go off alone.”

“It’ll be quicker than all of us going back to the Jeep and coming back. Plus, he’ll be able to travel quicker on his way back to us.” Especially without having to slow down for Stiles. “Lets hit the next part of the grid.” Derek said with a jerk of his head.

Stiles followed him, sticking close to his mate. Derek suddenly stopped and Stiles smacked right into his back. “Ow. What the hell?”

“Humans. Someone has been in the area recently,” Derek said and reached around to grip Stiles’ hand to tug him along with him in the opposite direction. “We’ll take another way around.” Stiles knew they couldn’t take the risk of running into anyone else without he rest of the pack with them. Stiles followed Derek, holding his hand tightly and keeping his eyes peeled until they reached a building and Derek ushered him inside.

“We okay?” he asked and Derek nodded. “Okay,” he sighed in relief. “Let’s just get as much as we can done before Scott gets back.” They went about their search methodically, marking Xs on their map as they cleared each part of the grid. Stiles wasn’t sure how long they’d searched buildings, but the area that they covered was pretty bare and fruitless. “I don’t think it’s worth going through the last couple of sections. We haven't found anything else.”

Derek nodded and Stiles faintly wondered where Scott was and if he was having a hard time tracking them down until a howl vibrated through Stiles. “Scott. Derek – that’s – that’s Scott!” Stiles strapped his backpack onto himself and darted off towards the stairs, taking them down two at a time.

“Stiles! Don’t!” Derek shouted after him, grabbing the rest of their things and hurrying to catch up to his mate.

Stiles could feel Derek hot on his heels as he rushed out of the building, Derek slamming into him when he stopped, causing him to stumble forward and look around frantically for his best friend. “Stiles, we need to go. Now,” Derek said quickly and grabbed Stiles’ arm, yanking him along.

“No! We can’t leave Scott!”

“Stiles he wasn’t calling for us! He was _warning_ us. They’re here. We have to go NOW!” Derek yanked Stiles’ arm, pulling him stumbling along with him. “We need to get out of the city limits.”

Stiles reluctantly followed Derek, not even sure where they were going now and the only the he could trust in was his mate’s senses. “Derek we need to –” Stiles froze when he turned and followed Derek’s gaze, seeing a hoard of the infected standing there watching them.

“Go, Stiles. Go!” Stiles refused to leave Derek, but Derek shoved him in the opposite direction and he turned to see Derek shift and snarl at the hoard with all his Alpha strength, throwing his rucksack at a few that rushed them, slashing and growling at others.

Stiles turned and ran, sprinting in the opposite direction. He screamed and jerked against a hand that gripped his arm, striking out and swinging without looking. Derek caught his hand before it would’ve connected with his face and Stiles sighed in relief before Derek was picking him up, throwing him over a shoulder and running. Derek was covered in blood and it was sticking to Stiles and the only thing he could think about was hoping he didn’t become infected from it.

“Derek!” Stiles jerked at the familiar voice and he twisted to see Scott running at them. Derek put him down and pushed him at Scott. “Take him!” Derek commanded.

“Derek, no! I’m not leaving without you! We said – ”

“I’ll hold ‘em off,” Scott said quickly. “Just go. I’ll meet up with you later.” Before Stiles could protest Scott was running straight into the hoard of the infected that was closing in on them and he only turned away when Derek grabbed him and forced him to move. Stiles ran. His lungs were burning and his arms and legs were sore. He wasn’t sure how far or how long he’d been running with Derek close at his side, lost in the thought of never seeing his best friend again.

Stiles turned into an alley and collapsed. “Derek, I can’t – I need to –” He was panting, trying to catch his breath even as Derek tried to pull him to his feet.

“We need to keep moving. Come on Stiles. Let’s go.” Derek pulled at him again, but Stiles couldn't get up. “If I have to carry you –” Suddenly Derek turned and snarled at a figure that stepped into the alley.

“Easy there big boy. Don’t wanna end up with an arrow in that pretty face of yours.” A brunette smiled wickedly at them and Stiles stared at her, face twisting as he tried to catch his breath. She wasn’t infected. She couldn’t be. She wasn’t part of the mindless horde that had been chasing them. And she had a crossbow pointed straight at Derek. “You mind calling your attack dog off here kid?” she asked with a jerk of her head at Derek.

“Why should I? I don’t know you,” Stiles said, still out of breath as he tried to stand up and moved next to Derek.

“Because if you don’t he’s going to lose an eye and I’d hate to see those pretty reds go to waste.” Stiles put a hand on Derek’s shoulder, giving it a squeeze. “Good. Now come with me. If he so much makes a move against me, I’ll gut him.”

“We’re not going with you,” Stiles protested, not moving. They had to get back to the Jeep and their pack.

“You either come with me or those Croatoans are going to have you for dinner. And I’m guessin’ you don’t want that, so get your shit together and hurry up. I’m not waitin’. They’re sweeping the city like they do every evening so you better hurry up.”

Stiles licked his lips, gave Derek a look and nodded. He felt Derek shift back to human form and they both hurried along with the brunette. If they could at least get out of the city they could ditch her and swing around to head back to the Jeep and it seemed like she knew her way around. “Where are we going?” Stiles asked her.

“I gotta rig a couple of streets up. We were doing a supply run when we heard the howls and I move faster when I’m alone so I came to check it out.” She said, glancing back at them and keeping her eyes peeled as they hurried along.

“Must be the humans I smelled earlier,” Derek told Stiles, wrapping an arm around him to keep him close as they moved. Stiles studied her as they moved quickly and he was surprised to see a guy packing up a Jeep as they rounded a corner.

“Found some strays!” She called out to the man, taking long strides. “We gotta move. There’s a whole lotta Croats headin’ our way and we need to go now.”

“Were you infected?” the man said, turning to give them a hard look as the woman packed up her things into the Jeep.

“No,” Stiles answered, shaking his head, but he was sure that with how much blood they were covered with the guy wouldn’t trust their answer.

The guy nodded. “I’m Dean. This is Faith. Get in the back. We’ll check you when we get back to camp.”

“Where’s camp?” Stiles asked, crawling into the back of the Jeep with Derek.

“Camp Chitaqua,” Dean answered, climbing behind the steering wheel and starting up the Jeep. “You’ll have to pass a few tests before we let you stay, though.”

“Oh, werewolf,” Faith said and motioned at Derek. Dean grunted and looked back at them, making Stiles tense.

“Our resident werewolf will give you a sniff-over when we get to camp. Just to make sure.” Stiles nodded, looking at the two and leaning into Derek, turning to bury himself against his mate. The only thing he could think about was Scott and how his best friend had been left behind. Stiles was numb.


End file.
